scars heal, but death is constant
by MissingMommy
Summary: Charlie visits Bill after Greyback's attack in HBP. :: Bill&Charlie, for TFS


For TFS. I'm sorry that this is late. But I hope that you enjoyed this anyways!

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You sit at Bill's bed side. You're exhausted; you can barely keep your eyes open after a double shift, but you can't seem to get comfortable in the chair. Instead, you watch your brother's chest rise and fall. It's steady, constant, comforting, as it always was growing up.

You're no fool; you know how close you came to losing him the night before. You came close to losing your father the year before. And Merlin, your family is going to be damaged by the war if they aren't careful.

There's a small part of you that believes that if you keep to your dragons in your remote place that the war won't affect you. But sitting here now, beside Bill – whose face is now covered in scars – you know that it's not possible. You can't hide from the war.

Bill grunts in pain, pulling you out of your thoughts. He tries to sit up, but you push him back down gently. "Don't move. It'll hurt more," you whisper, still holding him down. He relaxes at the sound of your voice, and you remove your hands and you retake your seat.

"Charlie," Bill chokes out, his voice rough. "You're here." He sounds surprised.

You know that you should go get your mother. You had promised to wake her right away if he woke up, but you haven't seen him in too long. "Yeah, well, you went and got yourself hurt," you say lightly, but your worry bleeds through.

Bill laughs softly. "If I knew that was all it took to get you home for a while, I would've done it a long time ago," he jokes.

You smile despite yourself. You don't tell him that you won't be coming home for Christmas because you're using your vacation time to see him. You didn't go home the year before, either, because of your father's accident, so you know that he won't be happy to know that. Merlin, how many Christmases have you missed because of limited vacation time? You don't even know.

"How are you feeling?" you ask instead.

He smiles, then grimaces at the pain the motion caused. "Been better," he replies. He looks down and back up at you, meeting your eyes. "They're going to scar, aren't they?"

"Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey can't heal them because of the nature of the contamination."

You watch him nod, as if he expected the answer, which you suspect he did. "How bad are they?"

You let your eyes roam his face. You did this while he was asleep, but somehow, it's different when he's awake. While he was asleep, the claw marks were red, angry, and takes over his appearance. But while he's awake, the scars aren't that noticeable, hidden behind his looks, his words, his actions.

Shrugging, you say, "They'll fade in time."

"And Fleur?" he asks.

He doesn't have to express his entire question for you to understand it. You smile. "She's asleep. Sent both her and Mum to bed when I got here. They looked exhausted."

Relief floods Bill's face. And then he meets your eyes again. "You look exhausted too."

"Came here straight after work," you reply. You don't bother to lie to him because he knows when you do. "It's nothing I haven't done before. I'll be fine," you assure him.

He gives you a skeptical look but accepts it. "How did you get them to go to bed?"

You laugh. "I told them that I would come get them the moment you woke up," you say. "But you see how that has gone."

He laughs along with you. But you still don't move. You stay beside him, catching up. And Merlin, how you have missed this. You need to come home more often, you think.

"Charlie," he whispers suddenly, as if the thought just hit him. "I got something that I've been meaning to ask you." It grabs your attention, and you nod to encourage him to go on. "Would you be my best man?"

You raise your eyebrow. "You're asking me that now?" You motion around you, to the Hospital Wing and the bed that he's currently laying in.

"I told you: I've been meaning to ask. Just between work and missions for the Order, I haven't had time to make it to Romania. I was going to wait until Christmas," he explains. You heart aches at the thought of Christmas, because you know that you can't go home again this year. "But since you're here…" he trails off.

You smile widely and nod. "You know I will," you agree. "I don't even know why you bother to ask."

Without moving off the bed, he punches you in the leg. "It's called common courtesy, brother. Something that apparently you never bothered to learn," he tells you, a small smile on his face.

"Well, with dragons, you never need common courtesy," you argue, jokingly. "Why bother to learn something that I'll never use?"

Bill rolls his eyes. "Maybe you should learn it anyways." There's a long pause before he talks again. "Thanks."

You're not sure if he's referring to your acceptance of being his best man, or if he's thanking you for just being there. Either way, you nod. "Of course." You stand. "I should go get Mum and Fleur. I don't need them killing me if I don't. I rather value my life."

He laughs, and motions for you to go. You make your way towards the door, turning back right before you exit. You see him close his eyes.

As you walk towards where everyone is staying, you can't help but think that this could've been worse. Bill could've died and you wouldn't have been there to help him. You resolve yourself to helping next time. You're done being a pacifist.

You're going to help fight when you are needed because you can't chance something happening to your family. You're going to help protect them even if you hate the violence.

You are just ashamed that it took Bill being hurt for you to decide this.

**A/n – so many thanks to Lizy for beta-ing this! **


End file.
